One of the most frequent emails I get from fans is "write faster!" Hey, I do the best I can. Right now, I am on the book a year pace with the next Mike Bowditch novel, Massacre Pond, scheduled to hit stores on July 16.

These tips really do work! When my friend Monica Wood published her memoir, When We Were the Kennedys, last summer without much fanfare, initial sales were modest. But over the following months, the book has gone on to become a huge success, simply because readers have been sharing it with friends and family members.

As Brian Freeman says, "publishing is one of the last great word-of-mouth businesses."